Alterable Superhydrophobic–Superhydrophilic Wettability of Fabric Substrates Decorated with Ion–TiO₂ Coating via Ultraviolet Radiation

Abstract

To prepare a functional fiber surface with alterable superhydrophobic–superhydrophilic wettability on fabrics, a TiO2 hybrid sol was synthesized with tetrabutyl titanate and a fluoride silane coupling agent, 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrimethoxysilane, via sol–gel technology. Within irradiation under UV light, the decay of the contact angle from superhydrophobicity to superhydrophilicity on the irradiated front fabric treated with the F–TiO2 hybrid sol was the fastest, and the contact angle on the irradiated reverse cotton fabric hardly changed. During this process, the contact angles of cotton, polyester, and wool fabrics kept within a tiny change (4°) with different doping ratios, and the UV irradiation had no effect on the reverse contact angles. During the storage process in the dark, the loss ratio of the front contact angle was decreased to 20% from 40% as the storage temperature increased to 60 °C from 30 °C.

Facile fabrication of photoinduced superhydrophobic–superhydrophilic surfaces on cellulose substrate without strength loss

“…The SEM image indicated that the surface of the cellulose fiber was rough, and there were abundant groove constructions and natural distortions (Figure 7(a)). 27 The roughness was increased after deposition, and the surface roughness of the modified fiber with DTES (Figure 7(b)) was lower than that of the fiber surface containing OTES (Figure 7(c)). The roughness distribution of the modified cellulose fiber was related to the water contact angle, and superhydrophobicity of the modified cellulose substrates containing OTES and DTES were remarkable.…”

“…Then the cellulose substrates were dried at 60 C for 20 min. 27 The dried cellulose substrates were uniformly irradiated under UV light with the Intelli-ray 600 UV lightbox produced by USA Uvitron Company (light intensity 50.0 mW/cm 2 , wavelength 253.7 nm) for 0-45 s to cure on the cellulose substrate (Figure 1).…”

“…In the previous study, we synthesized different silica or TiO 2 hybrid sols, and they were used to deposit on different fabrics to present excellent UV-switchable wettability via electrochemical deposition 11 and other methods. 26 Although the wettability sensitivity were enhanced by doped F ions 27 or other attempts, nearly all the mechanical properties of modified cellulose samples were decreased. The main reason was that the cellulose fiber was damaged by the acidic sols at a high baking temperature (higher than 140 C).…”

A Method for Preparing Superhydrophobic Paper with High Stability and Ionic Liquid-Induced Wettability Transition

“…As shown in Figure 5d, it was found that the paper surface can still achieve the transition between superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic after repeating the above soaking process 5 cycles, which showed that the reversible control of the wettability of the paper surface can be achieved by ion exchange between PF 6 − and Cl − . The concentration of the anion solution and the soaking time will have an important impact on the anion adsorption capacity of the polyelectrolyte molecular brush PMETAC, thereby affecting the contact angle of the paper surface [34,35]. The solvent used in this experiment was methanol.…”

Wear‐resistant cotton fabrics modified by PU coatings prepared via mist polymerization

“…In recent years, many attempts have been made to endow cotton fabric with new functionalities, including antimicrobial activity, superhydrophobicity, and abrasion resistance . Various techniques, such as dip coating, solution immersion, sol‐gel coating, spray deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and graft polymerization have been tried to modify cotton surface. Because cotton fibers are generally soft and sensitive to abrasive forces, the improvement of wearing durability is of particular importance in clothing industry.…”